Seattle Big Blog Meetup Reunion And Such

Several years ago Monica Guzman, then with the Seattle PI’s Big Blog, started hosting Big Blog meet ups. I stumbled upon one my posts from one, pinged the folks in the picture, and the discussion shifted to having a re-union.

So, we’ve launched the discussion. Part of the purpose for this post is to have the discussion in a single space, and not fill up our Twitter feeds.

Anyway, please comment below with ideas, suggestions, interests. Also, check back often. I’ll update this as it progresses.

Sustainable Living, Healthy Living and Suburbia

Yesterday was spent driving. Meetings in Late Stevens, Everett and Mountlake Terrace. Not at all uncommon. Though I travelled many miles, my body spent the day seated. This hit me at night: I just had to move. I did a little yoga, ran through taekwondo poomsaes, and was eclectic settle down. My body now expects some motion during the day now. 

My culture, my community, has evolved to minimize physical effort. Most energy expenditure gets deferred to our cars. Turns out its killing us. Whether the upswelling of type 2 diabetes or the obesity epidemic, our drive for inaction hurts us greatly. This concerns me. 

With this mindset: our obsession with speed. Faster! Faster! More and more in less time. Road Rage’s roots are herein. And those folks who get beside themselves in fury because someone is crossing the crosswalk, or being slowed by a cyclist; they’re deeply trapped in that mindset. Really, your blood pressure is going to soar into pathological levels because you need to wait ten seconds? 

I’ve wondered how society would look after healing this fracture. Well, first, we’d walk more. Or bike. We’d also have a rational engagement with time. Becoming unhinged over the most minor inconvenience is deeply unhealthy. 

As our urban areas are only going to get more dense, we need to start dealing with this stuff now. Or we don’t need to worry about North Korea nuking us: we’ll explode ourselves with self generated fury.